MAM
Piyush Pandey’s leaves behind a legacy the world will never forget
MUMBAI: Piyush Pandey the ad man – a lot has been written about his mastery in connecting through communication with the lay person on the street. Which is why most of the ads which he was involved in as a creative guide live with us till today. Fresh as the day they hot the screens.
His passing has left a deep impact on colleagues and industry folks the world over who have shared their grief and their admiration for the genius that he was and most of all for the great human that he was.
Liz Taylor, Global Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy
“A quiet Friday morning brought news that shattered our hearts: the legend, Piyush Pandey, has left us. The void he leaves is immense—a silence where once his booming laughter, humble mentorship, and profound humanity resonated.
To the world, Piyush was an icon, a creative giant, an advertising hero. To Ogilvy, he was our coach, our champion, our spiritual guide, our heart and soul. His passing is a loss that words cannot capture.
Yet even as we grieve, a profound sense of gratitude and purpose fills us. For Piyush, creativity was about connection—about making something that lived in people’s hearts. And that’s exactly what he did, time and again. His ideas shaped brands and culture. His kindness shaped people.
He taught us that living with generosity and creating with enormity leaves a legacy beyond measure. We will honor him in all that we do—not just in advertising, but in the way we live, lead, and care—striving always to act in the light of his values and to make him proud in every part of our lives.”
Joe Sciarrotta, Deputy Global Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy
“It’s hard to know where to begin. Personally, he was a brother to me. We spoke often. I spent time with his family, and he with mine—my mom would often ask after him. His is a loss I cannot fathom. But I also know that I’m not alone in that.
Piyush was a legend of our industry, and a national treasure in India. I was once on a tour bus in Goa with him and someone asked where we were from. Ogilvy, we said. They respond ‘Oh! Piyush Pandey is from Ogilvy. He’s very famous.’ To which I said, ‘Well, Piyush Pandey is standing right next to you.’ The man nearly had a heart attack from his awe and excitement. What many people don’t realize is that Piyush gave India its voice back, after having been so Westernized for so long. There was nothing he was more proud of than his country and his people. His greatest gift was that he treated ordinary people extraordinary, and extraordinary people ordinary. He saw, and celebrated, the humanity in it all. And that’s the impact he’s had on the next generation of creatives, and that will ripple for generations to come.”
Devika Bulchandani, Chief Operating Officer, WPP
“Piyush was not just the most important man in Indian advertising, he was the most important man in so, so, so many of our lives at Ogilvy. He may have left us but his work and his legacy will live forever.
I am personally heartbroken. I lost my biggest champion. Just last month when I got the WPP job he sent me a note, “Prouder than a peacock can be.” And I always told him, ‘You are my wings.’”
Shelly Lazarus, Chairman Emeritus, Ogilvy
“Piyush Pandey had a giant brain and a giant heart. It was an honor of my life to have been his partner and his friend.
Piyush built Ogilvy India into what it is today. He commanded the respect of everyone who worked with him and knew him. I loved walking down the street with Piyush and have people stop and ask him for his autograph.
There are some few people who are immortal. Piyush Pandey is one of them.
I will miss you, my friend.”
Hephzibah Pathak, Executive Chairperson, Ogilvy India:
“It’s hard to capture the immense impact Piyush had on us all. He didn’t just change the game for our industry; he changed our lives. A giant of a leader, his fearless heart and unwavering goodness inspired us to see the world, and ourselves, differently.
His beautiful philosophy, ‘Kuch khaas hai hum sabhi mein’ was his very essence–always finding and celebrating the specialness in everyone. We are so privileged to have been raised and nurtured by him.
Godspeed, Piyush. Rest in eternal peace.”
Harshad Rajadhyaksha, Kainaz Karmakar and Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officers, Ogilvy India:
“”The most honest thing we can say is that we’re numb. SO many memories are flooding our hearts. His living room was our second office. From the day we joined Ogilvy, to this day, he was our Creative Director and we were his team. This is an honour we can’t forget or replace. Even if he can’t hear us present ideas anymore, every time we create something, we will be asking ourselves, ‘Will Piyush like this?’ What we can promise as our tribute to him is to carry on his belief in creativity, culture and bravery.”
Reed Collins, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy APAC
“Our hearts are stilled, for a legend has departed. Piyush Pandey didn’t just shape culture; he shaped us. We mourn his absence, yet rise with fierce gratitude, committed to carrying his bat, forever building on the extraordinary innings he so brilliantly played. ?????? “
MAM
Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement
Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted
MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.
The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.
The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.
Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.
Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.
For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.
More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.
The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.
In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.
Brands
Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board
Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.
Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.
“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.
The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.
Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.
The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.
MAM
Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships
At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.
Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.
Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.
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